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| Photo Credit: Vinny Messana |
Great pitching has been a staple of Adelphi’s success throughout the tenure of Head Coach Dom Scala. This year figures to be no different.
“We have a young staff with lots of experience,” said the 12th year coach. “These guys threw a lot as freshman,” he added.
The staff will be led by junior Jonathon Mulford. The former Massapequa star is coming off a terrific sophomore campaign in which he led the team with 71.2 innings, struck out 59 batters while compiling a record of 5-3, with a strong 2.89 ERA.
The captain will be joined by sophomore TJ Santiago.
“He (TJ) could be a No. 1 as well,” said Scala. That is no exaggeration–as a freshman he threw 60.1 innings, struck out 45 batters with a 3.28 ERA. Most impressively–he posted a 3:1 strikeout to walk ratio.
Filling out the rotation will be transfer Kyle Garrison, who is coming over from Herkimer College. The 6’4″ flame thrower won four games last year while posting a healthy 8.1 strikeouts per nine innings.
Scala noted that he has been pleasantly surprised with the maturation of sophomore left-handed pitcher Mike Ceperano. The Hills East graduate started eight games for the Panthers, but Scala feels he will truly be an asset this season. When his command is working, he can shut down any opponent.
The challenge will be filling in for Rich Mejia and Cliff Brantley offensively. They both flirted with .400 all of last season and that is no small task playing in the pitching-rich Northeast-10 Conference.
“We have lots of big shoes to fill,” said Scala in regards to those two bats.
He noted that he feels confident in players such as Nick Zito, Donato Signore, Vinny Sharkey, Rob Vani and Eric Hassell to provide the punch.
“Hassell had a great freshman year,” he said. The outfielder batted .340 with a .397 OBP in 97 at bats. He had a tremendous second half of the season, and he was rewarded with starting nearly all of those games.
Not to be overlooked is senior catcher Rich Cambria–who will be replacing the ever-popular and reliable Kevin Hutzel.
“Rich is a great catch-and-throw guy…the pitchers really are comfortable throwing to him,” said Scala.
Defensively, the team is strong up the middle with Sharkey and SS Michael Stack.
“He’s really a good glove,” Scala said. “He was brought in to catch the ball,” he added. Last season, he was named second-team Gold Glove for compiling 134 assists with a .961 fielding percentage.
The bullpen will be relying on senior arms such as Mike Cranston, Nick Batas, Ricky Van Allen and John Bivas.
Having a veteran bullpen is sometimes the difference in crucial conference games.
“I think our bullpen is going to be a lot better than people think. Bivas is coming off injury but he’s a guy that comes in and gets tough lefties out,” said Scala.
The biggest challenge may just be the schedule. The Northeast-10 is not just top-heavy with teams like Franklin Pierce and Southern Connecticut, but it has no pushover teams.
“You can’t lay down for anyone in this conference,” he said. “You have to play your best everyday–doesn’t matter if the team is 3-10 or 10-3.”
The Panthers open up Friday in North Carolina against Queens College. They will also take on University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown and East Stroudsburg before coming home to host Molloy on March 4.
